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Summary

This Second Edition of Diana Ridley's bestselling guide to the literature review outlines practical strategies for reading and note taking, and guides the reader on how to conduct a systematic search of the available literature, and uses cases and examples throughout to demonstrate best practice in writing and presenting the review. New to this edition are examples drawn from a wide range of disciplines, a new chapter on conducting a systematic review, increased coverage of issues of evaluating quality and conducting reviews using online sources and online literature and enhanced guidance in dealing with copyright and permissions issues.

Author Biography

Diana Ridley is a Senior Lecturer at the TESOL Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, UK where she supervises research students in the fields of English language teaching and academic literacies

Table of Contents

List of tables and figures

p. ix

Acknowledgements

p. x

About the author

p. xi

Introduction

p. 1

What is a literature review?

p. 2

The literature review at different degree levels

p. 4

Why is it important to undertake a literature review as part of your research?

p. 6

Where do we find the literature review in a dissertation or thesis?

p. 6

Structuring your literature review

p. 20

Task 1.1 Choosing a literature review approach

p. 20

Summary

p. 21

Overview

p. 21

The multiple purposes of a literature review

p. 23

The multiple purposes

p. 23

Historical background

p. 25

Contemporary context

p. 28

Theoretical underpinnings

p. 30

Definitions and discussion of terminology used in the research

p. 33

Signalling a gap in previous research and using this to justify your own

p. 35

The significance of a problem for research

p. 36

Task 2.1 Reflecting on your own research

p. 39

Summary

p. 40

Sources of information and conducting searches

p. 41

What is a literature search?

p. 41

What are the purposes of a literature search?

p. 42

Sources of information

p. 43

Evaluating online sources of information

p. 47

Different types of research

p. 48

Tools for finding relevant sources

p. 49

The process of conducting a literature search

p. 53

The use of key words and Boolean logic

p. 57

Keeping up to date: ESS feeds and email alerts

p. 58

Social bookmarking

p. 59

Task 3.1 Tracking and recording your search

p. 60

Summary

p. 61

Reading and note-taking strategies

p. 62

Techniques for reading efficiently

p. 63

Critical reading

p. 65

Increasing your reading speed

p. 66

Reasons for note taking

p. 67

Techniques for note taking

p. 67

Three main formats for note taking

p. 69

Your own comments

p. 69

Handwritten notes vs computer notes

p. 70

Making connections between different texts: using key words

p. 70

Making connections between different texts: a tabular comparison

p. 72

Techniques for writing a summary

p. 73

Task 4.1 Applying the principles to your field

p. 78

Summary

p. 78

Reference management: keeping records and organising information

p. 79

Managing the process

p. 79

A record of key word searches

p. 80

A record of bibliographic details

p. 81

A personal library

p. 84

Copyright legislation

p. 84

Bibliographical software packages

p. 86

Task 5.1 Record keeping for your own research

p. 96

Summary

p. 96

Structuring the literature review

p. 98

The processes involved in the creation of a literature review

p. 98

Beginning to write

p. 99

The structure of the literature review

p. 100

Developing the structure of your review

p. 104

Task 6.1 Structuring your own literature review

p. 106

The relationship between the introduction and the literature review

p. 107

Task 6.2 Reflecting on your own research field

p. 116

Summary

p. 117

In-text citations

p. 118

Why do we reference?

p. 119

What is plagiarism?

p. 119

What type of information requires a reference?

p. 122

Referencing systems

p. 123

Integral and non-integral references

p. 124

Disciplinary difference in reference type

p. 127

Types of citation

p. 128

Disciplinary difference in citation type

p. 131

Choice of reporting verb

p. 132

Disciplinary difference in reporting verbs

p. 132

Tense of reporting verb

p. 133

Choice of tense in the clause or sentence where the information is reported

p. 135

Effective and unacceptable citations

p. 136

Text matching software: Turnitin

p. 139

Task 7.1 Analysing reference techniques in your own research field

p. 140

Summary

p. 140

Being critical

p. 141

The difference between critical reading and critical writing

p. 141

Being critical in writing

p. 142

How different researchers adopt a critical approach in their writing

p. 144

Task 8.1 Critical writing in your own research field

p. 156

Summary

p. 156

Foregrounding writer voice

p. 157

What is writer voice?

p. 157

The organisation of the text

p. 159

Unattributed assertions followed by support from citations

p. 159

Making explicit connections between citations

p. 160

Summary and evaluation of source material

p. 160

Overall summary at end of section or chapter

p. 162

The use of personal pronouns

p. 162

The choice of citation pattern

p. 167

The evaluative potential of different reporting verbs

p. 169

Evaluative adjectives, adverbs and phrases

p. 171

A mixture of evaluative strategies

p. 172

Task 9.1 Reflecting on the writer's voice in your own research

p. 174

Summary

p. 174

The continuing process

p. 175

The literature review process

p. 175

Referring to the literature in your discussion chapter

p. 177

Task 10.1 Reflecting on making the connections in your own research

p. 187

Findings support an existing theory

p. 178

Comparing a new model and an existing theory

p. 179

Explaining a finding using the literature

p. 180

Contribution of current research to existing theory

p. 181

Interpreting the data using the literature

p. 183

Application of theory to the findings

p. 184

Summary

p. 187

A systematic literature review

p. 188

What is a systematic literature review?

p. 188

The process of conducting a systematic literature review

p. 190

What is a meta-analysis?

p. 192

Narrative synthesis

p. 195

An example of a systematic review

p. 198

Appraisal of a systematic literature review

p. 200

Task 11.1 Searching for and critiquing a systematic literature review in your field